


Dream Of Me

by SykoShadowRose



Series: Syko's 2021 Valentine's Day Collection [5]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Incubus Qrow Branwen, M/M, Mentioned Past Ships - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Vampire Clover Ebi, Vampire James Ironwood, Vampire Qrow Branwen, Vampire Taiyang Xiao Long
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:00:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29484075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SykoShadowRose/pseuds/SykoShadowRose
Summary: Qrow only ever fed from people he loved. He'd never had someone love him back before though and when it happens, he isn't quite sure what to do about it. So he calls for help where he can get it.
Relationships: Clover Ebi/James Ironwood, Qrow Branwen/Taiyang Xiao Long
Series: Syko's 2021 Valentine's Day Collection [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2161350
Comments: 8
Kudos: 13





	Dream Of Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ospreyx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ospreyx/gifts).



Tai ducked his head, feeling his neck twinge, as he watched Qrow exit the room. The shorter man had invited him over for dinner again, which Tai was happy to accept because he enjoyed spending time with him. Tai had offered to cook for Qrow more than a few times, but the occasions when Qrow accepted were few and far between. He wasn’t sure why Qrow so rarely let him be the one to cook but he couldn’t help feeling slightly disappointed about it. Cooking was something he greatly enjoyed, sharing what he made brought him even more joy, but when it came to Qrow… 

He smiled as the other returned with the food he’d made for them. Qrow was actually a rather skilled cook and Tai loved the food but he tried not to think on it too much beyond giving the appropriate compliments. That line of thought would send him back into the circle of wanting to cook for Qrow. He just… He wanted to take care of Qrow a bit. He’d noticed a long time ago that Qrow never seemed to take proper care of himself and the few mentions of his family implied that they were distant and likely not looking after the slender male either. 

Unfortunately, Qrow seemed to pull away a little bit each time Tai tried to do it and he didn’t want to drive his friend away. So, he’d done what he could to bury the feelings he had for Qrow. Attempted to hide the attraction to the lovely red eyes and low rasping voice. So far, he thought he was doing a fairly good job of it. Qrow hadn’t _seemed_ to notice that Tai had fallen in love with him shortly after they became neighbors and started getting to know each other. He just had to keep it hidden until Qrow finally settled down with someone. Then he could nurse his broken heart back to health and move on with his life.

~*~

Qrow watched Tai return home, not even bothering to go around the fence as he leaped over it instead. He shook his head, admiring another little quirk of the blond. He’d been living next to the blond for years and he was still learning little things about him that made him smile. His lips turned to a frown as he felt the burning in his throat, the itching under his skin that indicated he needed to feed. It was, of course, why he’d invited Tai over tonight. His own little quirk going into effect. 

Unlike most incubi, who fed from whomever they pleased, Qrow preferred to feed from people he actually cared about. Maybe in part because he was also vampire but he thought it was mostly because he liked to take care of them in exchange. Like making sure Tai had a proper, full meal that would keep him from being drained after Qrow took from him. He’d been that way for most of his (very) long life and he didn’t think it would be changing anytime soon. It wasn’t that he really minded, he never saw a problem with it, but it did make things difficult when whoever he was feeding from got into a serious relationship. 

Even back when he’d been half incubus and half human, Qrow had never been one to want to hold back others just for his own gain which meant when one of the people he loved found a relationship, he backed off and moved on. It meant that there had been times when he’d gone years starving, but he’d found ways to survive. It had not gotten any easier when his human half had been made vampire. In fact if anything, he felt it had become even harder because now he had to feed in two different ways. For all that it gained him, Qrow felt like he’d been better off without it.

Sighing heavily, the hybrid turned to go inside and clean up. He would need to wait until after Tai had fallen asleep before he fed anyways, might as well find something to do in the meantime.

~*~

Tai growled as he scrubbed down harshly, trying to ignore the intrusive thought that lurked at the edges of his mind. Thinking of Qrow the way he wanted to was only going to drive him insane if he allowed it. So he took deep breaths, purposefully blanking his thoughts while he finished his shower and got ready for bed. He wondered, as he lay down for sleep, if tonight would be a night where he dreamed of a happy, stupidly domestic life with Qrow or if it would be one of the more insistent sexual dreams where he was with a female that had a superficial resemblance to Qrow. Though there was the occasionally the dreams of having sex with Qrow himself. Those were not as common as the female though and they never felt as real. 

It was irritating in a way.

Tai had always cared more about what his partner was like than their appearance but he could admit that Qrow was beautiful both inside and out. He just wished he was what Qrow wanted in return. Still, the random female that seemed to pop into his mind was close enough that he could _pretend_ it was Qrow, though it felt wrong to use her that way even if she was just a figure in his dreams. He didn’t understand why his mind kept bringing her up when he could just dream of who he actually wanted but the human mind was difficult enough to understand when awake. He hadn’t the slightest clue how to understand it when it was asleep.

Sighing heavily, Tai closed his eyes and relaxed back, allowing sleep to creep into his mind.

~*~

Qrow stalked slowly down the hall, claws dragging lightly against the wall, following the familiar path through the house to the slumbering form. He didn’t need to see in the dark, he had learned the path by heart. Knew how to sync his steps with the deep even breathing so that he didn’t disturb the form lying prone in the large bed. He lurked in the doorway, watching as Tai rolled over in his sleep, waiting for the man to settle back down before he crept closer. Qrow sat carefully on the edge of the bed, reaching out to lightly brush back Tai’s hair while he reached out mentally for the other. 

The hybrid always projected himself as a cross between his sister and her mate, Summer, when he fed from someone he knew (or was fairly sure) favored females. Tai had never given any indication that he was interested in males, not as far as Qrow could tell anyways, so this was the form he’d finally settled on when he invaded Taiyang’s dreams to feed from him. Qrow _had_ tried a few different forms, changing his shape and colors, trying to find what would please Tai the most but he’d always resisted to some degree for some reason. Qrow preferred female form was the one Tai was most accepting of, though he was still hesitant and Qrow hated that. He just wished he knew what Tai wanted so he could give it to the man while he took from him. It was the _least_ he could do while preying on his friend.

It was _beyond_ frustrating to not be able to fully please Tai even with all his power at his disposal.

Qrow had never had so much trouble figuring out what whoever he was feeding from (in love with) wanted from a partner. In the past he’d even managed to introduce some of them to the one they would marry or spend the rest of their lives with. All because he’d met someone and _known_ the one he loved would love them. Hell, that was how Raven and Summer had met. It was how James and Clover had met too. 

He’d met Summer first and had gotten a bit of a crush on her but after only two feedings he’d figured out that she’d be a better match for Raven. Introducing the small woman he’d been a bit in love with to his twin had been… an experience, to put it lightly, but it had made both of them ridiculously happy so he couldn’t regret it. Even if he’d starved for a few years before he’d fallen for someone else. The same had happened with Clover, though it had taken a little longer for him to realize the former soldier was a perfect mate for his vampiric sire. Then getting James to meet the man had been a chore in itself, on top of convincing the old vampire to _turn the mortal_ so they could stay together when Clover had called him because James was being a stubborn bastard about it. 

For both Summer and Clover, figuring out who they would want had been relatively easy.

But Tai…

Qrow just couldn’t get a feel for what he really wanted but as long as this form worked, he’d keep projecting it until he found something Tai responded to better. He started the dream the same way he always did, with light touches along Tai’s back, nails raking gently down his spine. He focused some time on warming Tai up, getting him to relax and accept the touches before he coaxed the blond into returning them. He drew in the energy they were generating, sighing softly as he fed from Tai’s dream. Qrow waited to feed further, waited until Tai was completely involved in the dream before he leaned over the prone form, fangs dragging along the vein to find the perfect spot to pierce. He hoved for a moment, tips of his fangs digging into the tanned skin while he held off for the perfect moment. Held off until Tai and his female projection were fully involved and properly occupied before he started to press down, the sharp scent of Tai’s blood teasing his nose as it readied to seep out.

He could feel the skin tearing under the pressure, could practically hear it as his fangs began to sink in, but there was another sound, a soft sigh, that had him jerking back. 

“Qrow…”

Wide eyes flew to Tai’s face as he broke the connection between them cutting off the flow of energy from Tai to him. Blue eyes were still closed, his breathing still deep and even as he shifted, brown furrowed. Qrow could only guess what his sleeping mind was doing to rationalize the sudden loss of his partner, too busy with his own spinning thoughts as he stumbled out of the room, fleeing the house so he didn’t risk waking Tai with his panic.

Safely in his own abode, Qrow paced the halls while he fretted.

Tai had called his name. Unprompted and unprovoked. In fact, he’d been with a _woman_ in the dream but he’d _still_ called Qrow’s name. He didn’t know how to handle it. What to think about it. He’d never had someone in love with him before. Not that he had been aware of anyways. The closest had been when he and James had had their “not really together” thing going on before James had turned them to save them. And that…. That had been vastly different from this. For one, neither of them had been human. They’d also been able to feed from each other regularly. He didn’t know what to do with knowing that Tai, who he had _thought_ was straight, was actually interested in him.

No wonder he hadn’t been able to find a form Tai liked. 

Qrow sighed, roughly rubbing his hands over his face. His throat ached from not having finished his feeding and he hadn’t drawn nearly enough energy from Tai to keep him going for long. The hybrid all but collapsed on the bed once he reached his room, completely at a loss for what to do. Huffing out a heavy breath, Qrow curled up on his side, resolving to call the only person that might be able to help him. The only person he thought could actually tell him things from Tai’s perspective without actually telling Tai. He’d call Clover for advice in the morning. The brunette had not only been human, he’d had no idea of all the other creatures wandering the world when Qrow had entered his life. Summer had known about them even if she’d been human, she wouldn’t be able to offer as much help, though maybe she could still offer some advice. 

But that would mean interacting with his twin as well and he’d rather put that off until he had no other choice. So Clover first. And if he couldn’t come to a decision he would make the desperate call to his sister-in-law. But not until he’d talked to Clover. He’d helped when Clover wanted James to turn him. Maybe Clover could help him with Tai somehow.

~*~

Tai rubbed at his neck as he walked out his door, completely confused by the marks he’d found there that morning when he woke up. He had planned to go over to visit Qrow but had put it off, trying to first find what had caused the small wounds and then by getting caught up in a call with an old schoolmate. Tai had turned to jump the fence like he normally did but he paused at the sight of a vehicle he didn’t recognize in Qrow’s driveway. Hesitation set in, he didn’t want to be rude and interrupt when Qrow already had company, but he was also intensely curious because Qrow hadn’t had a visitor before and to have one so late at night... Biting his lip, Tai figured he could stop by long enough to ask Qrow if he wanted to come over the next day to watch a show and then he’d go back to his own house to die of curiosity.

Since there were other people involved and he didn’t know who they were to Qrow or what they might have to say, Tai decided to use the actual sidewalk to make his way over to his neighbor’s door. It wasn’t until he heard the crack of wood snapping that he realized a car had jumped up on the curb and even then it wasn’t until the world had stopped tumbling and pain flooded his awareness that he realized he’d been hit. His last coherent thought was that _of course_ it would happen the one time he used the sidewalk…

~*~

Qrow froze with the other two when a disturbance sounded outside his house, but it was the scent, the all too familiar, tempting scent, that had him running out the door. He knew Tai’s blood. Had survived off of it for years. With how strong the scent was, there was no way Tai was going to walk away from whatever had happened. That knowledge didn’t prepare him for the sight of the bland crumpled on the ground, blood pooling around him. He heard a low curse from behind him as he fell to his knees, carefully cradling Tai’s head in his hands. There was talking around him, hands pulling him back by the shoulders. He struggled, trying to shake off the grip that was attempting to pry him away before his head cleared enough to hear. 

“...go so James can get him inside and turn him!”

“Turn him…” Qrow echoed faintly, realization starting to pierce through his shock.

“Yes. James can turn him to save him but you have to _let go_!” Clover pulled again, finally succeeding in removing Qrow so that James could lift the limp body up. 

Stunned red eyes watched, scrambling to his feet to follow because he didn’t want to lose sight of Tai, not until he knew for certain that the blond would be alright. Qrow hovered in the doorway of his guest room, torn between watching James turn Tai and looking away because of how _intimate_ the process felt. In the end Qrow stayed where he was but watched a spot on the wall instead of witnessing the change. He had no right to feel any kind of jealousy or possession over Tai but he did. Even knowing that James was happily with Clover didn’t fully keep the bitter feelings away. Qrow offered his Sire a tight smile when it was finished and the man rested a hand on his shoulder, not waiting for the elder to leave as he took the vacated spot on the bed.

He could already see the wounds knitting closed, though there was a scar left behind that Qrow suspected would never fully fade. A reminder of Tai's final moments as a mortal. Qrow fussed over his friend a bit, discarding his ruined clothing and fetching water to clean away the blood before he redressed him in some clothes that Clover was kind enough to lend when he came in to check on them and inform Qrow that the blood had been cleaned away. With any luck it was late enough that no one had witnessed any of what had happened, though James was checking just to be sure. They were already sure that whoever had driven off after running Tai over wouldn’t be making any reports…

Now all he had to do was wait and hope that Tai was accepting of his new life…

**Author's Note:**

> Discord: SykoShadowRose #2535
> 
> Feel free to message me if you'd like to talk.


End file.
